Perfume
by The Last Letter
Summary: Haley is doing the laundry when she finds one of Aaron's shirt that has a brunette hair on it, and the smell of expensive perfume. The hair leads her to Emily Prentiss, and Haley has to wonder: Is Aaron cheating on her?


"What the hell?" Haley mumbled under her breath, she glanced over her shoulder to make sure that her baby hadn't heard her, then picked Aaron's shirt back up. Sure enough, there was a long, brunette, strand of hair clinging to his shirt. The first thought that came into her mind was that he was cheating on her. Her mind instantly shot down the idea, saying that Aaron Hotchner would never cheat, not the noble Aaron she knew, but she had to remind herself that she didn't know Aaron anymore.

Hesitantly she lifted the shirt up to her nose. Beneath the smell of his deodorant and the smell of a shirt that's been worn, there was perfume. And not her perfume either, this smelled like the fancy stuff she had always taking free samples of, but could never afford to buy. She grimaced. He _was _cheating. Then another thought occurred to her, when would he have the time? It was always the job. Aaron was always taking off, and she knew, by past experience, that he was always too drained after a case to do anything more than curl up in bed.

She threw the shirt in the washer. She would have to think about this later.

Two hours later, after Jack was in his crib for a nap, Haley was left to her own thoughts. Aaron had taken off on another case -Chicago, or Detroit, or something, she hadn't really paid attention to where he was going- and now she was alone. She couldn't believe that Aaron would cheat, that just wasn't like him. She shook her head, there had to be a reasonable explanation for the hair and the perfume. It was possible he had bumped into someone. It was possible that he had gone to buy her a gift and had gotten the sales lady to spray the perfume so he could smell it before he bought it or -

Haley cursed as she ran into a table. She hadn't even noticed she was pacing. She leaned down and picked up the framed photographs that had fallen off the table. These were Aaron's work pictures. The first one in her hand was of him, Jason Gideon and Spencer Reid in the background. She placed that one back on the table before picking up the one of Aaron and David Rossi. The next was of Aaron, Derek Morgan and Jennifer Jareau. Then there was one of the whole team, Jason Gideon, Derek Morgan, Penelope Garcia, Spencer Reid, Jennifer Jareau, Aaron and Elle Greenaway. Haley took a close look at the brunette Elle, before remembering that this photo was old, and Elle had left the team a while ago.

There were two more photos. There was one almost the same as the one she had just put back on the table, except that instead of Elle Greenaway, there was Emily Prentiss. Haley frowned at Emily, but Emily was on the opposite side of the picture as Aaron. The next photo was the team photo with Dave and Emily in it. This time Aaron's arm was wrapped around Emily's shoulders. Haley took a closer look. The two were grinning like old friends who had just met up on the street after a decade of not seeing each other. Emily was leaning into Aaron, and Aaron was close to her. Too close for Haley's comfort.

That night, when Aaron came home, Haley was waiting for him. He didn't even have time to take off his shoes before Haley said, "Are you sleeping with her?"

Aaron jumped in surprised, he had thought she was asleep. "Who?" He asked, fumbling for a light switch.

"Emily."

Aaron froze, "_Emily Prentiss_? Like, BAU team member, FBI Agent, _Emily Prentiss_?" He asked, fighting a smile. The thought that he would sleep with Emily was absurd. The thought that he would cheat on Haley was impossible.

"Yes, that Emily." Aaron turned on the light, and Haley saw his smile. "What are you smiling at?" She demanded, angry that he wasn't taking her seriously.

"Emily is like a little sister to me. She's thoughtful, and I won't deny that she's pretty, but she's not for me." Aaron reached over and touched Haley's cheek. "You're my wife. I love you."

"Then why do you come home covered in her hair and perfume?"

"Emily doesn't wear perfume. And we work together, we're going to bump into each other, her hair might have been stuck on something she passed me. It doesn't mean anything."

"If she doesn't wear perfume, who does?" Haley wasn't going to rest until he explained _everything_, she needed to know.

"The only person on our team who wears perfume is JJ, our media liaison." Aaron told Haley, seeing her frown, he began to talk again, "And, I'm not supposed to know, but I do know, for a fact, that she's dating another Agent on the team."

Haley looked up at Aaron. This was the man she fell in love with. The man that would go to great lengths just to make sure she was okay with everything. "Okay. I believe you." Haley said.

"I'll see you upstairs. I'm just a little hungry, okay?" Aaron asked, touching her arm.

Haley smiled at him. "Okay."

**I don't own **_**Criminal Minds**_**.**

**~DI4MGZ~**


End file.
